View source for Fall 2017 SPO600 Weekly Schedule

[[Category:Fall 2017 SPO600]]
This is the schedule and main index page for the [[SPO600]] ''Software Portability and Optimization'' course for Winter 2017.
<!-- {{Admon/caution|Revisions Pending|This schedule is being revised following the interruption due to strike.}} -->
{{Admon/important|It's Alive!|This [[SPO600]] weekly schedule will be updated as the course proceeds - dates and content are subject to change. The cells in the summary table will be linked to relevant resources and labs as the course progresses.}}
<!-- {{Admon/important|Content being Updated|This page is in the process of being updated from a previous semester's content. It is not yet fully updated for Fall 2017. Do not rely on the accuracy of this information until this warning is removed.}} -->

<!--* Previous semester: [[Winter 2017 SPO600 Weekly Schedule]].
-->
== Schedule Summary Table ==

This is a summary/index table. Please follow the links in each cell for additional detail which will be added below as the course proceeds -- especially for the ''Deliverables'' column.

{|cellspacing="0" width="100%" cellpadding="5" border="1" style="background: #e0e0ff"
|-Code Building LabCode Building LabCode Building Lab
!Week!!Week of...!!width="28%"|Class I<br/>Monday 9:50-11:35!!width="28%"|Class II<br/>Wednesday 11:40-1:25!!width="28%"|Deliverables<br/>(Summary - click for details)
|-
|1||Sep 4||style="background: #f0fff0"|(Labour Day - No class)||[[#Week 1 - Class II|Introduction to Software Porting, Portability, Benchmarking, and Optimization / How is code accepted into an open source project? (Lab 1)]]||[[#Week 1 Deliverables|Set up accounts.]]
|-

|2||Sep 11||[[#Week 2 - Class I|Computer Architecture Overview - Binary representation, processor internals, instruction set architecture]]||[[#Week 2 - Class II|Compiled C Lab (Lab 2)]]<!--  Overview of Working with Code and Building Software - Toolchains, compiler stages, switches and flags, binary file contents (Lab 2)]] -->||[[#Week 2 Deliverables|Blog your conclusion to Labs 1 and 2.]]
|-

|3||Sep 18||[[#Week 3 - Class I|Assembly Lab (Lab 3)]]||[[#Week 3 - Class II|Assembly Lab (Lab 3 - continued) and Code Bulding Lab (Lab 4)]]||[[#Week 3 Deliverables|Blog your results and conclusions for Lab 3]]
|-

|-style="background: #f0f0ff"
|4||Sep 25||colspan="3" align="center"|Linaro Connect (No Classes) - Complete the [[#Week 4|Code Building Lab]] (Lab 4) in preparation for your Project
|-

|5||Oct 2|||[[#Week 5 - Class I|Compiler Optimizations]]||[[#Week 5 - Class II|SIMD and Auto-Vectorization (Lab 5)]]||[[#Week 5 Deliverables|Blog your Auto-Vectorization Lab (Lab 5) results.]]
|-

|6||Oct 9||style="background: #f0fff0"|(Thanksgiving - No class)||[[#Week 6 - Class II|Algorithm Selection (Lab 6)]]||[[#Week 6 Deliverables|Blog about your Algorithm Selection Lab (Lab 6).]]
|-

|-style="background: #ffd0d0"
|colspan="5" align="center"|Strike
|-

|x7||Nov 20||style="background: #ffd0d0"|Strike||style="background: #f0f0ff"|(NSERC IRCC Meetings - No class)||  
|-

|x8||Nov 27||[[#Week x8 - Class I|Course Review & Revised Plans]]||[[#Week x8 - Class II|Inline Assembler (Lab 7)]]||[[#Week x8 Deliverables|Blog your results for Lab 7.]]
|-

|x9||Dec 4||[[#Week x9 - Class I|Project: Building, Benchmarking, and Profiling]]||[[#Week x9- Class II|Project Hacking]]||[[#Week x9 Deliverables|Blog about your project.]]
|-

|x10||Dec 11||[[#Week x10 - Class I|Project Hacking]]||[[#Week x10 - Class II|Project Hacking - End of Stage I]]||[[#Week x10 Deliverables|Blog about your project, including Stage I report.]]
|-

|x11||Dec 18||[[#Week x11 - Class I|Project Hacking]]||[[#Week 11 - Class II|Project Hacking]]||[[#Week X11 Deliverables|Blog about your project.]]
|-

|x12||Jan 1||style="background: #f0fff0"|(New Year's Day - No class)||[[#Week x12 - Class II|Project Hacking]]||[[#Week x12 Deliverables|Blog about your project.]]
|-

|x13||Jan 8||[[#Week x13 - Class I|Wrap-Up Discussion; end of project Stage II.]]||style="background: #f0f0ff"|(Course finished)||[[#Week x13 Deliverables|Blog about your project, including the final/Stage II report, and write a wrap-up post about the course.]]
|-

|}

== Evaluation ==
{|cellspacing="0" width="100%" cellpadding="5" border="1" style="background: #e0ffe0"
!Category!!Percentage!!Evaluation Dates
|-
|Communication||align="right"|20%||End of September (5%), End of November (Dec 3 - 7.5%), end of course (Jan 8 - 7.5%).
|-
|Quizzes||align="right"|10%||May be held during any class, usually at the start of class. A minimum of 5 one-page quizzes will be given. No make-up/retake option is offered if you miss a quiz. Lowest 3 scores will not be counted.
|-
|Labs||align="right"|10%||See deliverables column above. All labs must be submitted by Jan 8.
|-
|Project work||align="right"|60%||2 stages: 20% (Dec 14) / 40% (Jan 8).
|}

== Week 1 ==

There is no "Class I" during this first week due to Labour Day.

=== Week 1 - Class II ===

==== Introduction to the Problems ====

===== Porting and Portability =====
* Most software is written in a '''high-level language''' which can be compiled into [[Machine Language|machine code]] for a specific computer architecture. In many cases, this code can be compiled for multiple architectures. However, there is a lot of existing code that contains some architecture-specific code fragments written in [[Assembly Language]] (or, in some cases, machine-specific high-level code).
* Reasons for writing code in Assembly Langauge include:
** Performance
** [[Atomic Operation|Atomic Operations]]
** Direct access to hardware features, e.g., CPUID registers
* Most of the historical reasons for including assembler are no longer valid. Modern compilers can out-perform most hand-optimized assembly code, atomic operations can be handled by libraries or [[Compiler Intrinsics|compiler intrinsics]], and most hardware access should be performed through the operating system or appropriate libraries.
* A new architecture has appeared: AArch64, which is part of [http://www.arm.com/products/processors/instruction-set-architectures/armv8-architecture.php ARMv8]. This is the first new [[Computer Architecture|computer architecture]] to appear in several years (at least, the first mainstream computer architecture).
* At this point, most key open source software (the software typically present in a Linux distribution such as Ubuntu or Fedora, for example) now runs on AArch64. However, it may not run as well as on older architectures (such as x86_64).

===== Benchmarking and Profiling =====
Benchmarking involves testing software performance under controlled conditions so that the performance can be compared to other software, the same software operating on other types of computers, or so that the impact of a change to the software can be gauged.

Profiling is the process of analyzing software performance on finer scale, determining resource usage per program part (typically per function/method). This can identify software bottlenecks and potential targets for optimization.

===== Optimization =====
Optimization is the process of evaluating different ways that software can be written or built and selecting the option that has the best performance tradeoffs.

Optimization may involve substituting software algorithms, altering the sequence of operations, using architecture-specific code, or altering the build process. It is important to ensure that the optimized software produces correct results and does not cause an unacceptable performance regression for other use-cases, system configurations, operating systems, or architectures.

The definition of "performance" varies according to the target system and the operating goals. For example, in some contexts, low memory or storage usage is important; in other cases, fast operation; and in other cases, low CPU utilization or long battery life may be the most important factor. It is often possible to trade off performance in one area for another; using a lookup table, for example, can reduce CPU utilization and improve battery life in some algorithms, in return for increased memory consumption.

Most advanced compilers perform some level of optimization, and the options selected for compilation can have a significant effect on the trade-offs made by the compiler, affecting memory usage, execution speed, executable size, power consumption, and debuggability.

===== Build Process =====

Building software is a complex task that many developers gloss over. The simple act of compiling a program invokes a process with five or more stages, including pre-proccessing, compiling, optimizing, assembling, and linking. However, a complex software system will have hundreds or even thousands of source files, as well as dozens or hundreds of build configuration options, auto configuration scripts (cmake, autotools), build scripts (such as Makefiles) to coordinate the process, test suites, and more.

The build process varies significantly between software packages. Most software distribution projects (including Linux distributions such as Ubuntu and Fedora) use a packaging system that further wraps the build process in a standardized script format, so that different software packages can be built using a consistent process.

In order to get consistent and comparable benchmark results, you need to ensure that the software is being built in a consistent way. Altering the build process is one way of optimizing software.

Note that the build time for a complex package can range up to hours or even days!

==== General Course Information ====

* Course resources are linked from the CDOT wiki, starting at http://wiki Click here if you have trouble logging in. Click here if you have trouble logging in. Click here if you have trouble logging in. Click here if you have trouble logging in. Click here if you have trouble logging in. Click here if you have trouble logging in. Click here if you have trouble logging in. Click here if you have trouble logging in. Click here if you have trouble logging in. Click here if you have trouble logging in. Click here if you have trouble logging in. Click here if you have trouble logging in. Click here if you have trouble logging in. Click here if you have trouble logging in..cdot.senecacollege.ca/wiki/index.php/SPO600 (Quick find: This page will usually be Google's top result for a search on "SPO600").
* Coursework is submitted by blogging.
* Quizzes will be short (1 page) and will be held without announcement at any time, generally at the start of class. Your lowest three quiz scores will not be counted, so do not worry if you miss one or two.
* Course marks (see Weekly Schedule for dates):
** 60% - Project Deliverables
** 20% - Communication (Blog and Wiki writing)
** 20% - Labs and Quizzes (10% labs - completed/not completed; 10% for quizzes - lowest 3 scores not counted)
* All classes will be held in an [[Active Learning Classroom]] -- you are encouraged to bring your own laptop to class. If you do not have a laptop, consider signing one out of the Learning Commons for class, or using a smartphone with an HDMI adapter.
* For more course information, refer to the SPO600 Weekly Schedule (this page), the [http://www.senecacollege.ca/ssos/findWithoutSemester/spo600/sict Course Outline], and [[SPO600 Course Policies]].
<!-- * Optional: You can participate in the [http://linaro.org Linaro] Code Porting/Optimization contest. For details, see the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo1dBB3tke8 YouTube video] of Jon "maddog" Hall and Steve Mcintyre at Linaro Connect USA 2013. -->

==== Discussion of how open source communities work ====

* Background for the [[SPO600 Code Review Lab|Code Review Lab (Lab 1)]].


=== Week 1 Deliverables ===

# Course setup:
## Set up your [[SPO600 Communication Tools]] - in particular, set up a blog and add it to [http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/~chris.tyler/planet/ Planet CDOT] (via the [[Planet CDOT Feed List]]).
## Add yourself to the [[Fall 2017 SPO600 Participants]] page (leave the projects columns blank).
## Generate a [[SPO600_Servers#Preparatory_Steps|pair of keys]] for [[SSH]] and email the public key to your professor, so that he can set up your access to the [[SPO600_Servers class servers]].
## Sign and return the [[Open Source Professional Option Student Agreement]] (this will be done on paper in class).
# Complete Labs
## [[SPO600 Code Review Lab|Code Review Lab (Lab 1)]] (Due end of week 2)
# Optional (recommended): [[SPO600 Host Setup|Set up a personal Fedora system]].
# Optional: Purchase an AArch64 development board (such as a [http://96boards.org 96Boards] HiKey or Raspberry Pi 2/3).


== Week 2 ==
, processor intern, processor internals, instruction set architecture]]||[[#Week 2 - Class II|als, instruction set architecture]]||[[#Week 2 - Class II|

=== Week 2 - Class I ===

* Binary Representation of Data
** Numbers
*** Integers
*** Fixed-point numbers
*** Floating-point numbers
** Characters
*** ASCII
*** ISO8859-1
*** Unicode
**** Encoding schemes
*** EBCDIC
** Images
** Sound
* [[Computer Architecture]] overview (see also the [[:Category:Computer Architecture|Computer Architecture Category]])
* A first look at the x86_64 and AArch64 Architectures and ISA
** Register file comparison
** Instruction encoding
** ELF
** Procedure calling conventions

==== Reference ====
* [[Computer Architecture]] and [[:Category:Computer Architecture|Computer Architecture Category]]
* [[Aarch64 Register and Instruction Quick_Start]]
* [[x86_64 Register and Instruction Quick_Start]]

=== Week 2 - Class II ===

<!-- 
* Working with Code
*# Getting Code
*#* In a tarball
*#* From git
*#** Git basics
*#* Working with other version control systems
*# Getting and Installing Build Dependencies
*#* Required tools
*#* Required libraries, headers, and modules
*# Building the Code
*#* Configuration tools (autotools, cmake)
*#* [[Make and Makefiles|Make]]
*#* The compiler toolchain
*#** Preprocessor
*#** Compiler 
*#** Assembler
*#** Linker
*#* Debug vs. Non-debug/Stripped binaries
*#* Installation Scripts

* [[Overview of the Build and Release Process]]
* Looking at How Distributions Package the Code
** Using fedpkg 
* How do you Test without Compromising the Running System?
** Paths
** glibc

* [[SPO600 Code Building Lab|Code Building Lab (Lab 2)]] as homework
-->
* [[SPO600 Compiled C Lab|Compiled C Lab (Lab 2)]]
=== Week 2 Deliverables ===

* Blog your conclusion to the [[SPO600 Code Review Lab|Code Review Lab (Lab 1)]]
* Blog the results and conclusion from the [[SPO600 Compiled C Lab|Compiled C Lab (Lab 2)]]


== Week 3 ==

=== Week 3 - Class I ===

* [[SPO600 Assembler Lab|Assembler Lab (Lab 3)]].

=== Week 3 - Class II ===

* Complete Lab 3.
* [[SPO600 Code Building Lab|Code Building Lab (Lab 4)]]

=== Week 3 Deliverables ===

* Complete and blog your results, conclusions, and reflections on the [[SPO600 Assembler Lab|Assembler Lab (Lab 3)]].


== Week 4 ==

* Complete and blog your results, conclusions, and reflections on the [[SPO600 Code Building Lab|Code Building Lab (Lab 4)]].

== Week 5 ==

=== Week 5 - Class I ===

* [[Compiler Optimizations]]
* [[Profile Guided Optimization]]
* [[Link Time Optimization]]


=== Week 5 - Class II ===

* Introduction to Vector Processing/SIMD
* [[SPO600 Vectorization Lab|Vectorization Lab]] (Lab 5)


=== Week 5 Deliverables ===

* Blog your results for the [[SPO600 Vectorization Lab|Vectorization Lab]] (Lab 5) -- be sure to include links to your code, detailed results, and your reflection on the lab.

== Week 6 ==

=== Week 6 - Class II ===

* [[SPO600 Algorithm Selection Lab|Algorithm Selection Lab]] (Lab 6)


=== Week 6 Deliverables ===

* Blog your results for the [[SPO600 Algorithm Selection Lab|Algorithm Selection Lab]] (Lab 6) -- be sure to include links to your code, detailed results, and your reflection on the lab.

== Week x8 ==

=== Week x8 - Class I ===

* Review
* Plans for Remainder of Term

=== Week x8 - Class II ===

* [[Inline Assembly Language]]
* [[SPO600 Inline Assembler Lab|Inline Assembler Lab]] (Lab 7)

=== Week x8 Deliverables ===

* Blog about your Lab 7 results


== Week x9 ==

=== Week x9 - Class I ===

* Benchmarking and Profiling
** Notes to follow

=== Week x9 - Class II ===

* [[Fall 2017 SPO600 Project]]

=== Week x9 Deliverables ===

* Start blogging about your project!

<!-- ###################################################################################

=== Week 2 - Class II ===

* [[SPO600 Assembler Lab|Assembly language lab]] (lab 3)

=== Week 2 Deliverables ===

* Blog your conclusion to the [[SPO600 Code Review Lab|Code Review Lab]] (Lab 1)

== Week 3 ==

=== Week 3 - Class I ===

* Continue group work on [[SPO600 Assembler Lab|Lab 3]].

=== Week 3 - Class II ===

* [[SPO600 Compiled C Lab]] (Lab 4)

=== Week 3 Deliverables ===

* Blog your conclusion to:
** [[SPO600 Assembler Lab|Lab 3]]
** [[SPO600 Compiled C Lab|Lab 4]]

== Week 4 ==

=== Week 4 - Class I ===

Software Optimization
* [[Compiler Optimizations]]
* [[Profile Guided Optimization]]
* Algorithm Selection

=== Week 4 - Class II ===

* [[SPO600 Algorithm Selection Lab]] (Lab 5)

=== Week 4 Deliverables ===

* Blog about your Lab 5 results.

== Week 5 ==

=== Week 5 - Class I ===

* Finish the [[SPO600 Algorithm Selection Lab|Algorithm Selection Lab]]

=== Week 5 - Class II ===

* Introduction to Vector Processing/SIMD
* [[SPO600 Vectorization Lab|Vectorization Lab]] (Lab 6)

=== Week 5 Deliverables ===

* Blog your results for the [[SPO600 Algorithm Selection Lab|Algorithm Selection Lab]] (Lab 5)
* Blog your results for the [[SPO600 Vectorization Lab|Vectorization Lab]] (Lab 6)
* For each of the above, be sure to include links to your code, detailed results, and your reflection on the lab.

== Week 6 ==

=== Week 6 - Class I ===
* [[Inline Assembly Language]] -- often used for:
*# Implementing a memory barrier
*# Performing an [[Atomic Operation]]
*#* '''Atomics''' are operations which must be completed in a single step (or appear to be completed in a single step) without potential interruption.
*#* Wikipedia has a good basic overview of the need for atomicity in the article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linearizability Linerarizability]
*# Gaining performance (by accessing processor features not exposed by the high-level language being used (C, C++, ...))
* [[SPO600 Inline Assembler Lab|Inline Assembler Lab]] (Lab 7)

=== Week 6 - Class II ===
* [[SPO600 Inline Assembler Lab|Inline Assembler Lab]] (Lab 7) continued...

=== Week 6 Deliverables ===
* Blog your Lab 7 results.

== Week 7 ==

=== Week 7 - Class I ===

==== Overview/Review of Processor Operation ====

* Fetch-decode-dispatch-execute cycle
* Pipelining
* Branch Prediction
* In-order vs. Out-of-order execution
** Micro-ops

==== Memory Basics ====

* Organization of Memory
** System organization
** Process organization
*** Text, data
*** Stack
*** Heap
* Memory Speeds
* Cache
** Cache lookup
** Cache synchronization and invalidation
** Cache line size
* Prefetch
** Prefetch hinting

==== Memory Architecture ====

* Virtual Memory and Memory Management Units (MMUs)
** General principles of VM and operation of MMUs
** Memory protection
*** Unmapped Regions
*** Write Protection
*** Execute Protection
*** Privilege Levels
** Swapping
** Text sharing
** Data sharing
** Shared memory for Inter-Process Communication
** Copy-on-Write (CoW)
** Demand Loading
** Memory mapped files

==== Memory Barriers ====
'''Memory Barriers''' ensure that memory accesses are sequenced so that multiple threads, processes, cores, or IO devices see a predictable view of memory.
* Leif Lindholm provides an excellent explanation of memory barriers.
** Blog series - I recommend this series, especially the introduction, as a very clear explanation of memory barrier issues.
*** Part 1 - [http://community.arm.com/groups/processors/blog/2011/03/22/memory-access-ordering--an-introduction Memory Access Ordering - An Introduction]
*** Part 2 - [http://community.arm.com/groups/processors/blog/2011/04/11/memory-access-ordering-part-2--barriers-and-the-linux-kernel Memory Access Ordering Part 2 - Barriers and the Linux Kernel]
*** Part 3 - [http://community.arm.com/groups/processors/blog/2011/10/19/memory-access-ordering-part-3--memory-access-ordering-in-the-arm-architecture Memory Access Ordering Part 3 - Memory Access Ordering in the ARM Architecture]
** Presentation at Embedded Linux Conference 2010 (Note: Acquire/Release in C++11 and ARMv8 aarch64 appeared after this presentation):
*** [http://elinux.org/images/f/fa/Software_implications_memory_systems.pdf Slides]
*** [http://free-electrons.com/pub/video/2010/elce/elce2010-lindholm-memory-450p.webm Video]
* [http://www.rdrop.com/users/paulmck/scalability/paper/whymb.2010.07.23a.pdf Memory Barriers - A Hardware View for Software Hackers] - This is a highly-rated paper that explains memory barrier issues - as the title suggests, it is designed to describe the hardware origin of the problem to software developers. Despite the fact that it is an introduction to the topic, it is still very technical.
* [http://infocenter.arm.com/help/index.jsp?topic=/com.arm.doc.faqs/ka14041.html ARM Technical Support Knowlege Article - In what situations might I need to insert memory barrier instructions?] - Note that there are some additional mechanisms present in ARMv8 aarch64, including Acquire/Release.
* [https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/memory-barriers.txt Kernel Documentation on Memory Barriers] - discusses the memory barrier issue generally, and the solutions used within the Linux kernel. This is part of the kernel documentation.
* Acquire-Release mechanisms
** [http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2008/10/03/8969397.aspx MSDN Blog Post] with a very clear explanation of Acquire-Release.
** [http://preshing.com/20130922/acquire-and-release-fences/ Preshing on Programming post] with a good explanation.
** [http://infocenter.arm.com/help/index.jsp?topic=/com.arm.doc.genc010197a/index.html ARMv8 Instruction Set Architecture Manual] (ARM InfoCentre registration required) - See the section on Acquire/Release and Load/Store, especially Load/Store Exclusive (e.g., LDREX)

==== The Future of Memory ====

* NUMA (on steroids!)
* Non-volatile, byte-addressed main memory
* Non-local memory
* Memory encryption

=== Week 7 - Class II ===

* [[Winter 2017 SPO600 Project|Course Project]]

=== Week 7 Deliverables ===

* Blog your Lab 7 results, including the second part
* (To be announced: Project Deliverables)

== Week 8 ==

=== Week 8 - Class I ===

* Project Discussions

=== Week 8 - Class II ===

* Project Presentation #0
** Selected glibc function(s)
** Plan of Action

=== Week 8 Deliverables ===

* Blog about your selected function(s) and project plan
** Remember: You should be posting 1-2 times per week
<!--

#################################################################################
#################################################################################
#################################################################################

== Week 3 ==

=== Tuesday (Jan 26) ===

* Continue work on the [[SPO600 Assembler Lab|Assembly language lab]] (lab 3)

=== Friday (Jan 29) ===

* [[SPO600 Compiled C Lab|Compiled C lab]] (lab 4)

=== Week 3 Deliverables ===

* Blog about your [[SPO600 Assembler Lab|Assembly language lab]] (lab 3).
* Blog about your [[SPO600 Compiled C Lab|Compiled C lab]] (lab 4) experience and results. Consider the optimizations and transformations that the compiler performed.
* Remember that these posts (as all of your blog posts) will be marked both for communication (clarity, quality of writing (including grammar and spelling), formatting, use of links, completeness) and for content (lab completion and results). Your posts should contain both factual results as well as your reflections on the meaning of those results, the experience of performing the lab, and what you have learned.


'''Reminder:''' Blogs will be marked as they stand at the end of the month (Sunday).

== Week 4 ==

=== Tuesday (Feb 2) ===

Software Optimization
* [[Compiler Optimizations]]
* Algorithm Selection

=== Friday (Feb 5) ===

* [[SPO600 Algorithm Selection Lab|Algorithm Selection Lab]] (Lab 6)

=== Week 4 Deliverables ===

* Blog about your Lab 5 results.

== Week 5 ==

=== Tuesday (Feb 9) ===

* Finish the [[SPO600 Algorithm Selection Lab|Algorithm Selection Lab]]
* Discussion of Benchmarking Challenges
* Introduction to Vector Processing/SIMD

=== Friday (Feb 12) ===

* [[SPO600 Vectorization Lab|Vectorization Lab]] (Lab 6)

=== Week 5 Deliverables ===

* Blog your results for the [[SPO600 Algorithm Selection Lab|Algorithm Selection Lab]] (Lab 5)
* Blog your results for the [[SPO600 Vectorization Lab|Vectorization Lab]] (Lab 6)
* For each of the above, be sure to include links to your code, detailed results, and your reflection on the lab.

== Week 6 ==

=== Tuesday (Feb 16) ===
* Discussion of Memory Architecture

=== Friday (Feb 19) ===
* [[Inline Assembly Language]] -- often used for:
*# Implementing a memory barrier
*# Performing an [[Atomic Operation]]
*# Gaining performance (by accessing processor features not exposed by the high-level language being used (C, C++, ...))
* [[SPO600 Inline Assembler Lab|Inline Assembler Lab]] (Lab 7)

=== Week 6 Deliverables ===
* Blog your Lab 7 results.

== Week 7 ==

=== Tuesday (Feb 23) ===
* Discussion of [[Winter 2016 SPO600 Compiler Options Presentation|Course Presentation]] assignment

=== Friday (Feb 26) ===
* Discussion of the [[Winter 2016 SPO600 Project|Course Project]]

=== Week 7 Deliverables ===
* Blog about your selected Presentation and Project topics.

== Week 8 ==

[http://connect.linaro.org/bkk16/|Linaro Connect] - No classes.

=== Week 8 Deliverables ===

* Prepare for your Presentation
* Work on your Project
* Blog about what you're doing!

== Week 9 ==

=== Tuesday (Mar 14) ===

* [[Winter 2016 SPO600 Compiler Options Presentation|Presentations]]

=== Friday (Mar 18) ===

* [[Winter 2016 SPO600 Compiler Options Presentation|Presentations]]

=== Week 9 Deliverables ===

* Blog about your Presentation, incorporating any discussion or feedback during the presentation.

== Week 10 ==

=== Tuesday (Mar 22) ===

* [[Winter 2016 SPO600 Project|Course Project]] - Stage I Updates

=== Week 10 Deliverables ===

* Blog your Stage I Updates. '''Important!''' - this will be used to assign your Stage I project mark! Include:
** Which software package you are working on
** Your experience building the software "out of the box" on x86_64 and AArch64 platforms
** Baseline results (performance)
** Which area of the software you will be working on and which approach you are going to take to optimizing the software...
**# Improving the Build Instructions (e.g., compiler options), OR
**# Changing the Software (substituting a different algorithm, or refactoring for better compiler optimization e.g., auto-vectorization), OR
**# Adding Platform-Specific code for AArch64

== Week 11 ==

=== Tuesday (Mar 29) ===

* Discussion & Hack Session

=== Thursday (Mar 31) ===

Reminder: '''Special Event:''' [https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/leadership-lunch-with-mike-shaver-engineer-director-for-facebook-tickets-23046621064 Leadership Lunch with Mike Shaver]

=== Friday (Apr 1) ===

* Discussion & Hack Session

=== Week 11 Deliverables ===

* Blog about your project work.


== Week 12 ==

=== Tuesday (Apr 5) ===

* Discussion & Hack Session

=== Friday (Apr 8) ===

* Project Stage II Updates

=== Week 12 Deliverables ===

* Blog your Stage II Project Updates by '''Midnight, Sunday, Apr 10.''' Note that this will be used for your Stage II project mark (20%).

== Week 13 ==

=== Tuesday (Apr 12) ===

* Wrap-Up Discussion

=== Friday (Apr 15) ===

* Stage III Project Updates

=== Week 13 Deliverables ===

* Blog your Stage III Project Updates by Midnight on Thursday, April 21.

* Complete ALL your blogging for this course by Midnight on Thursday, April 21. Make sure that you have included all of the labs, your presentation, and your project work. Remember that there should be at least 1-2 posts per week. Your blogging from April 1-April 21 will be used for your April communication mark.

-->
<!-- == Week 2 ==

=== Tuesday (Sep 15) ===

{{Admon/tip|Bring Your Laptop|Classes are held in a [[Active Learning Classroom]]. If you have a laptop or other device with a VGA or HDMI output (such as a smartphone!) please bring it. You'll need either a local linux environment or an [[SSH]] client -- which is built-in to Linux, Mac, and Chromebook systems, and readily available for Windows, Android, and iOS devices.}}

* [[SPO600 Compiled C Lab|Compiled C Lab (Lab 2)]]
* Sheets from Last Week
** Open Source Student Agreement

=== Friday (Sep 18) ===

* Introductions
* [[Compiler Optimizations]]
* Introduction to the [[Fall 2015 SPO600 Compiler Options Presentation|Compiler Options Presentation]]

=== Week 2 Deliverables ===

* Blog about your [[SPO600 Code Review Lab|Code Review Lab (Lab 1)]] and [[SPO600 Compiled C Lab|Lab 2]] experience and results. For lab 2, consider the optimizations and transformations that the compiler performed. Remember that these posts (as all of your blog posts) will be marked both for communication (clarity, quality of writing (including grammar and spelling), formatting, use of links, completeness) and for content (lab completion and results). Your posts should contain both factual results as well as your reflections on the meaning of those results, the experience of performing the lab, and what you have learned.

== Week 3 ==

This week [[User:Chris Tyler|your professor]] is at [http://connect.linaro.org/sfo15/ Linaro Connect], an engineering conference run by [http://www.linaro.org Linaro] - a distributed not-for-profit collaborative technology company focused on Linux on ARM.

* [[Fall 2015 SPO600 Compiler Options Presentation|Select and prepare to teach the class about two compiler options]].

=== Week 3 Deliverables ===
* Be prepared to give your [[Fall 2015 SPO600 Compiler Options Presentation|presentation]] on Tuesday of next week (September 29).

== Week 4 ==

=== Tuesday (Sep 29) ===
* Presentations

=== Friday (Oct 2) ===
* Presentations
* Introduction to ARM64 hardware
* [[SPO600 Algorithm Selection Lab|Algorithm Selection Lab (Lab 3)]]

=== Week 4 Deliverables ===
* Blog your [[Fall 2015 SPO600 Compiler Options Presentation|presentation]], incorporating any feedback and Q&A input that was given during/after the presentation in class.

== Week 5 ==

=== Tuesday (Oct 6) ===
* Class discussion/hacking on [[SPO600 Algorithm Selection Lab|Lab 3]].

=== Friday (Oct 9) ===
* More on Lab 3
* Discussion of Benchmarking

=== Week 5 Deliverables ===
* Blog your [[SPO600 Algorithm Selection Lab|Lab 3]] results.

== Week 6 ==

=== Tuesday (Oct 13) ===
* Discussion of benchmarking
** Control of variables
*** Competition for system resources
*** Repeatability
* Planning for a Compiler Options Test Framework

=== Friday (Oct 16) ===
* Compiler Options Framework
** Divide up tasks
** Start development

=== Week 6 Deliverables ===
* Blog your recommendations for the test framework design.


== Week 7 ==

=== Tuesday (Oct 20) ===
* Build the [[SPO600 Framework Project|Compiler Options Test Framework]]

=== Friday (Oct 23) ===
* Project selection
** Your task over reading week: Become an expert in building your selected software, and then make it work with the [[SPO600 Framework Project|Compiler Options Test Framework]]

=== Week 7 Deliverables ===
* Blog about the compiler options framework, and your work on that project.
* Blog about your selected project.

== Week 8 ==

=== Tuesday (Nov 3) ===
* No class scheduled - your [[User:Chris Tyler|prof]] is in Whitehorse, YK at an NSERC workshop.
* Please work on your [[Fall 2015 SPO600 Course Project|project]], and be ready to present on Friday.

=== Friday (Nov 6) ===
* Present your Stage I results for your [[Fall 2015 SPO600 Course Project|project]].

=== Week 8 Deliverables ===

* Blog about your [[Fall 2015 SPO600 Course Project|stage I project results]]. This will be used to assign the first marks for your project.

== Week 9 ==

=== Tuesday (Nov 10) ===

* [[Computer Architecture]] overview (see also the [[:Category:Computer Architecture|Computer Architecture Category]])

=== Friday (Nov 13) ===

* [[SPO600 Assembler Lab|Assembly language lab]] (lab 4)

=== Week 9 Deliverables ===

* Blog about your project progress (2+ posts per week).
* Blog the [[SPO600 Assembler Lab|Assembly language lab]] -- include your results, a link to your source code, and your reflections on the experience. 


== Week 10 ==

=== Tuesday (Nov 17) ===
* Discussion & Hack Session
** [[SPO600 Assembler Lab|Assembly language lab (Lab 4) results]]
** Testing Framework

=== Friday (Nov 20) ===
* Hack session on the Testing Framework

=== Week 10 Deliverables ===
* Blog about your project work
* Blog about your Lab 5 results

== Week 11 ==

=== Tuesday (Nov 22) ===
* SIMD and Vectorization
* [[SPO600 Vectorization Lab|Vectorization Lab (Lab 6)]]

=== Friday (Nov 25) ===
* Discussion of the State of the Framework
* Hack Session

=== Week 11 Deliverables ===
* Blog your [[SPO600 Vectorization Lab|Lab 6]] results.

== Week 12 ==

=== Tuesday (Dec 1) ===
* Stage II Results - Brief Presentations

=== Friday (Dec 4) ===
* '''No Class''' - Early start to Exam Week

=== Week 12 Deliverables ===
* Blog about your Project Status - Stage II Results
** Provide results for the various flag combinations you tested
** Discuss the results, highlighting any anomalies

== Final Deliverables ==
* Blog about your Project Status - Stage III Results
** Important: Incorporate any feedback on your Stage II results
** Outline what you learned from your investigation into various combination of GCC flags
** Discuss what the upstream projects should do based on these results
** Communicate the results to the upstream project, if appropriate
** Outline further investigation that should be undertaken
* Blog a reflective blog post on the course
** What you have learned
** What you already knew
** What was good or bad about the way the course proceeded]
** How you might use this knowledge in the future
* This is the last chance to submit any lab postings, etc.
'''All blog postings must be in by Friday, December 18, at 11:59 pm to be included in the final grade.'''

-->

<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>